Summary

• Nick comes to know that Gatsby is known and famous around New York for his lavish parties that he throws at his mansion
• Nick gets an invitation to Gatsby‘s party from a chauffeur
• when Nick gets to the party, he feels out of place; guests exchange rumours about Gatsby and no one seems to really know him
• people at the party claim that he used to be a German spy during the war, that he is a graduate from Oxford and that he killed a man
• luxuriousness of the party: Gatsby‘s Rolls Royce, the swimming pool, the beach, tons of citrus fruit, buffet tents, the live orchestra
• despite the era of Prohibition, alcohol flows freely and the guests grow more and more exuberant
• when Jordan and Nick try to find the mysterious host, they run into a person that Nick calls Owl Eyes at Gatsby‘s library
• Nick and Jordan join the party outside and talk to a handsome man who claims that Nick somehow looks familiar to him
• they notice that they served in the same division during the war
• that man is Jay Gatsby and Nick grows fonder of him as the party proceeds
• Gatsby presents himself as some kind of outsider: he doesn‘t drink and stands alone on his marble steps
• already very late in the night, a butler tells Jordan that Gatsby wishes to speak with her and Jordan comes back to Nick and claims that she has just heard something very extraordinary
• Nick leaves, Gatsby returns inside in order to talk to someone calling from Philadelphia
• on his way home, Nick sees that Owl Eyes has gotten into an accident with his car who states that he washes his hands of the whole business
• in an attempt to sset himself apart from the illustrious society at Gatsby‘s party, Nick describes his everyday life: he works in New York City, takes long walks there, meets women - he does more than just attending parties
• Nick starts to engage in a romantic relationship with Jordan whom he deems as a dishonest person
• even though he is repelled by her dishonesty, he feels at the same time attracted to her

Function

• Gatsby‘s party functions as a portrayal of the upper class
  
  • despite the prevalent tension between the new rich and old rich people, they attend Gatsby‘s parties and blend together in order to establish a specific American mood
• introduction of Jay Gatsby
  
  • reader has only seen him from the distance or heard about him from others
  • grand entrance: the mysterious host of a decadent party
  • he has an extraordinary smile according to Nick
  • this emphasis highlights Gatsby‘s optimism and his vitality towards the future
  • something about Gatsby always seems off: he throws parties and does not know his guests, he calls people "old sport", Owl Eyes is shocked about the realness of Gatsby‘s books
  • it seems as if Gatsby uses his opulence to mask something entirely different and perhaps more profound than the corruption and decay of the upper class
• gap between perception and reality
  
  • Owl Eyes believes that Gatsby‘s life is just a show
  • party seems like a theatrical presentation